Chile declares catastrophe after wildfires kill at least 18, force evacuations

President Gabriel Boric declared a state of catastrophe for the southern regions of Ñuble and Biobío after fast-moving wildfires killed at least 18 people, destroyed homes and infrastructure, and sent tens of thousands fleeing. In a post on X the president said he had “decided to declare a state of catastrophe in the regions of Ñuble and Biobío. All resources are available.” Firefighting teams continued to battle dozens of blazes as extreme heat, strong winds and a prolonged drought complicated efforts.

Authorities said initial evacuation figures evolved rapidly as the emergency spread. Early tallies cited tens of thousands evacuated, with later counts approaching roughly 50,000 people displaced from threatened towns and coastal localities around Concepción. Local officials reported hundreds of homes lost in the worst-affected municipalities, with concentrated damage in towns such as Penco, Lirquén and Tomé and scorched vehicles and damaged infrastructure along evacuation routes.

Forest and disaster agencies offered differing estimates of the area burned as the situation changed. The forestry agency CONAF reported thousands of hectares consumed and noted that crews were confronting multiple active fronts, while President Boric described a broader toll that encompassed additional outbreaks across the region. The discrepancy in hectare totals reflected rapidly updated measurements and the widening geographic scope of the fires.

Fire authorities said crews were contending with dozens of active fires nationwide, a number that shifted as containment lines held or broke. The national disaster service reported a fluctuating active-fire count as firefighters contained some perimeters and redirected resources to newly ignited sectors. Officials cited forecast temperatures up to 38°C and persistent strong winds as key factors that accelerated spread and hindered aerial and ground suppression.

Under the state of catastrophe, the government can mobilize wider national resources and coordinate with the armed forces to support evacuations, logistics and firefighting operations. Security and interior ministers urged residents in threatened areas to heed evacuation orders as police opened inquiries into the origins of several outbreaks. Boric warned that human behavior remained a central cause of the country’s wildfires, saying that in “99% of cases” wildfires in Chile result from human behavior.

The scale and speed of this January outbreak tapped into recent national trauma over summer blazes. Prosecutors and officials point to a pattern of increasingly severe fires in recent years, driven by drought, land-use pressures and climatic shifts. Prosecutors recorded heavy casualties in simultaneous 2024 fires near Viña del Mar, underscoring the deadly potential of Chile’s summer season when conditions align against containment efforts.

As emergency services raced to protect communities, officials cautioned that casualty and damage totals were provisional and likely to change. Military units, civilian firefighters and international assistance options remained on standby as authorities balanced immediate rescue and relief with the longer task of recovery and investigation into what sparked the most destructive fires in this latest string of deadly seasons.